I’ve never really thought I had a problem with video games. Well, I still can’t beat Mike Tyson in “Punch-Out,” and the only reason I’ve ever gotten past that driving level in “Mafia” is by cheating, but what I mean is that I’ve never felt like I’ve ever had trouble balancing games with the rest of my life. While gaming is one of my great passions, I’ve been fortunate enough to find other passions in life that made it impossible to think about spending all of my waking time with just one of them.

However, I do realize that video game addiction is a problem that exists. For former NFL defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock, it’s a very real problem that may keep him out of the league.

Pitcock refers to himself as an introvert who can spend 18 hours a day playing “Call of Duty.” He says that, “The only way I could get my endorphins was by playing video games.” Realizing the depths of his addiction, he has gone to such dramatic lengths as physically breaking his games to try to make up for not being able to stop playing via his own will. Yet for all of his efforts, he has so far been unable to break his crippling addiction.

More than just register as a gross personal flaw, though, this is a problem that may permanently affect Pitcock’s career. That’s because he retired from football in 2008, after a somewhat impressive rookie season with the Indianapolis Colts, and has made two different unsuccessful attempts at a comeback since. Pitcock says he immediately regretted his decision to retire originally, but instead of refocusing his efforts to get back into the game, he instead sank deeper into his drug of choice. While he does play for the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League (and the Indianapolis Colts helped him find a psychologist to help with his addiction), he now has recently revealed that he has a legitimate worry that NFL teams will not trust him to be successful in his recovery efforts.

While that may sound like a ludicrous statement to some, the fact is that video game addiction is a mental addiction, which is considered much more problematic to break than a physical one. Let’s not forget the plight of one of the most talented football players of all time, Ricky Williams, whose addiction to marijuana was so severe that he once stated that his desire to smoke marijuana was greater than his desire to play football. Marijuana, like video games, is not a drug that is considered to be supremely addictive or inherently dangerous. Yet to the right mindset, both can be just as dangerous as any other substance.

I almost wrote this piece as a humorous article. The NFL player who’d rather play “Madden”…something like that. But the truth is that it’s hard not to feel sympathetic to Quinn Pitcock. Like I said, I’ve been lucky enough to find other passions that have kept my life from revolving around video games entirely, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t brief flirtations with having it become a problem.

To make it to the NFL, it takes an almost inhuman mix of skill and dedication. It’s obvious that on some level Quinn Pitcock still has both. However, as Voltaire said, “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” Hopefully, Pitcock will be able to able to find the right balance in his life for all of his passions, and live without those chains.

If you head over to Adult Swim’s website right now, you’ll find an interesting teaser. Apparently, next week Valve and Adult Swim are going to be revealing a collaboration that they describe as “their video game peanut butter… our network chocolate” and “something that you’ll probably enjoy.” The picture accompanying the announcement makes it pretty clear that this is something “Team Fortress 2“-related, and speculation everywhere has it at everything from the long-awaited “Meet the Pyro” episode of the “Meet the Team” series, to a full-on new TV series based on the insanely popular online shooter.

Considering that “Team Fortress 2” is one of the most purely entertaining games of all time, with a comic style and personality that is unmatched in its medium, and that those “Meet the Team” videos are some of the funniest things ever produced in relation to a video game, whatever comes of this announcement is sure be a bonafide success.

It is odd, though, that video games and television shows are two mediums that don’t have much of a celebrated history, or anticipated future of collaboration. Video games made into movies have been a popular subject of discussion for years, but for some reason very few people ever consider the potential for games as TV shows. While “Team Fortress 2” might be the strongest argument for the games to series transition in the history of video games, the truth is that I think there are at least five other titles that would do very well in an episodic format.

“Fallout”

How It Would Work: Three letters. H-B-O. The world of the “Fallout” series is one of the most brutal, bleak and terrifying of all time. Around every corner waits a new horror and atrocity, and just about every person left has become a hardened bastard because it’s the only thing that’s allowed them to survive.

It’s the perfect world for HBO’s no limit programming.

More than the violence, though, this show would need HBO’s creative freedom to really showcase the “Fallout” series’ biggest success, and that’s the world it takes place in. The 50s style atmosphere, mixed with the total apocalypse, is the thing that made the series stand out above all others, and it leads to some of the greatest dark humor in any medium. From the always gleeful “Fallout Boy” mascot to the incredibly inappropriate yet oddly fitting classic soundtrack, there is so much in this series that you wouldn’t have to change a bit of to make it shine as something truly unique and incredible.

What’s better is that you wouldn’t be stuck with the parameters of the series story either. There are so many tales waiting to be told that you could just borrow ideas from the established parts of the series and have more than enough foundation for even a mediocre script writer to build something truly compelling with.

In fact, with the possible exception of “Team Fortress 2,” “Fallout” is the series perhaps most primed for television. Just please… no Deathclaws. They scared me enough in the game already when I accidentally found Old Oney too early, and I certainly don’t need any more of them.

Once banished to the “back in the day” wing of the video game hall of fame, adventure games have seen an increase in popularity in the last couple of years due to titles ranging from the evolutionary equivalent (“Heavy Rain“) to the pure point and click (the Telltale collection).

“Resonance,” from Wadjeteye Games, is part of the latter. Rather than try to update and gentrify the genre for a new audience, though, the developers have gone the route of nostalgia and created an experience that is artistically and fundamentally similar to the original crop of adventure titles that helped popularize the genre in the early 90s.

“Resonance” is the story of four people (that you control, anyway) who find their lives intertwined by the search for a brilliant scientist’s prototype for a new electrical device that looks to have caused mass destruction in several major cities across the globe. Their reasons for the pursuit are all different, but it becomes clear very quickly that all of them will need each other, not just for their own benefits, but for the greater good as well.

More than any technical aspects like graphics (though the art style is quite good for what it is), the biggest draw of any good adventure title has always been a great story, and that’s why I’m happy to report that “Resonance’s” plot is indeed a great one. It contains all of the twists, turns, and old fashioned intrigue you would expect from such a conspiracy setup, and it constantly manages to move the player and its characters from interesting scenario to interesting scenario with very few lulls. The real driving force of the game’s story is its characters. You control each of them independently and in groups throughout the game, and along the way you really do get a great feel for their unique circumstances and individual motivations behind their journeys. I hate to use the old cop out, but to go into any further detail would ruin the number one reason to play this game.

Unfortunately, the quality writing of the overall plot does not extend to the game’s dialogue. While there are clever lines and quips sprinkled here and there, the actual script seems weak and relies mostly on predictable and heavy-handed lines and poorly-timed jokes. A good part of the title is voice acted, but the performances do little to cover for the weak script. It’s not like any of them are horrific, but you will rarely meet a character that doesn’t come across like they’re reading straight from a script. Considering the great narrative the game is working with, the actual conversations that build it should have been stronger. Maybe I’m spoiled by classic adventure tiles like “Grim Fandango” and “Curse of Monkey Island” having some of the best dialogue bits in gaming, but there is still little here that makes itself memorable.

There is this absolutely massive 56-page report that is currently making its rounds on the front page of most major gaming websites. Its contents are various, but the general summary of it is a detailed “game plan” of sorts for Microsoft’s next console launch, including features, a price point, and a broad ranged analysis of the console market both at the time of the documents origins and how it will look by 2013 (the next console’s supposed launch date) and beyond.

Now, this report is being classified as a “leak” as it apparently made its rounds internally around Microsoft back in 2010. However, while Microsoft is naturally remaining mum on the subject of its origins and accuracy, there are many who believe the report to be more or less a hoax, albeit a very detailed and professional one. Nevertheless, the most eye-grabbing bits of the report are the specific features of the alleged new console (which is named Xbox 720 in the report). Among them are:

– Blu-ray functionality (oh come on Microsoft, giving up on HD-DVD so easily?)

– Enhanced Kinect support, including the expansion of the system to allow up to four players and a new sensor all together

– A $299 price point

– Cloud support for taking your multimedia files anywhere

– Potential tablet integration

– Enhanced reality glasses, dubbed Fortaleza, that provide features such as heads-up displays and other virtual reality aspects

Compared to the same time last year, sales are down 28% (from $718.9 million to $516.5 million) overall. This is being attributed to a number of factors, including the advantage May had last year with Nintendo’s 3DS price drop, and the rise of online free to play games as possible reasons for this drop off.

What’s even more disturbing is the follow up by the Seattle Times that reveals that this is merely the latest entry in a six month tailspin of sales figures the video game industry has posted.

While most of the time I would dismiss these figures as this is traditionally accepted as the slow time of the year for games, and a big release like the next “GTA” or the equivalent would quickly turn these numbers around, its troubling that in a month that included highly anticipated sequels (“Diablo 3” and “Max Payne 3”) as well as exciting new projects (“Dragon’s Dogma”) that sales would still drop to such a degree.

The truly frightening part is that these numbers are following a weak E3 showing that was criticized for its lack of original properties and exciting ideas. If sales continue to plummet like this, we could be in for a long and frightening stretch of big developers playing it safe, and indie developers struggling for a chance, and the industry could begin to regress instead of using its unprecedented popularity as a platform to push forward on.